A Moon's Company
by Raven100104
Summary: After Matsuri's kidnap, Gaara sets out to retrieve her. What happens when Tsunade sends an extra ninja on the rescue mission as the Sand's back-up? Instead of Sakura, someone else is teamed up with Naruto and Lee to protect Gaara... someone who, before even meeting the boy, promises to never let him be lonely again. Gaara x OC


"Tsuki! Tsuki WAKE UP!" A flamboyant and annoyingly loud voice boomed throughout the small bedroom as Tsuki shot up with a scream.

"NARUTO WHAT THE HELL!" Tsuki screeched, grabbing the nearest object, which happened to be her entire kunai-filled pouch, and flung it full force at her bright blond friend. "I specifically told you _NOT_ to wake me up before 10 on a WEEKEND!"

To her surprise, Naruto was not fazed or crying out in pain. Instead, he stood at her bedside, a red bruise forming on his cheek, and stared down at her in all seriousness. "Naruto?"

"We have a rescue mission." was all he announced before the blue-eyed shinobi disappeared in a puff.

"What the…" Tsuki groaned, but nevertheless hurried out of bed. She instantly knew something's wrong when Naruto's eyes darkened, and so, as his loyal friend, she quickly ran a finger through her long, dirty blonde hair before tying it up in a high ponytail. With a piece of toast and all her equipments intact, Tsuki leapt out the window and headed to the Hokage Tower.

* * *

"Who exactly is this guy we're rescuing?" Tsuki inquired out loud to no one in particular as most of the rookie 9 jumped through trees towards the direction of Sunakagure in full speed. While she already had the debriefing with the Hokage, the only thing she learned was that a Sand rookie named Matsuri was kidnapped and the Sand nins are requesting backup, but Tsunade didn't have time to go into details. It was her first encounter with the Sand, and she was, to be quite honest, curious! Her medic-nin classmate, Sakura, having heard her question, hopped beside her.

"He's a friend from the Sand and he greatly admires Naruto." Sakura smiled, looking ahead.

"Eh? Naruto? What miracle did that boy do now?" Tsuki grinned, also turning ahead and realizing that Sakura was looking at the orange clad ninja fondly.

"Gaara used to be kind of a psycho. He was abused by his village and was set on killing everyone until Naruto stopped him." Sakura murmured. In her unusually soft tone, Tsuki sensed a slight pity and was even more touched by the lack of judgment in her friend's voice.

"Abused?" Tsuki whispered. _'A great ninja like him? How can he be abused?'_

"Mostly mental abuse." Sakura explained. "Kind of like Naruto was. He was shunned and picked on. No one loved him and he loved no one. Even his father tried to kill him…back then he was only six…"

Tsuki's golden eyes trembled at the retelling of a tragedy. Clenching her fists, she fell silent, not knowing what else to say. What _could_ you say?

Taking her silence as her cue, Sakura continued. "During the chuunin exam, Gaara tried to kill us all, but after his fight with Naruto, he changed. He found his way and even helped us in our mission to get Sasuke back-"

"chicken-headed bastard" Tsuki muttered at the mention of the Sharingan wielder.

"-and ended up saving Lee's life."

A moment of silence passed before Tsuki spoke up again.

"So what does his village think of him now that he's changed?" The golden eyed kunoichi wondered aloud, knowing someone would answer

"It's not that simple." This time, Shikamaru cut in. Tsuki lifted a brow, coercing more explanation. Shikamaru muttered something about "troublesome women" before elaborating. "When a whole village not only fears you, but hates you, you don't just get to turn over a new leaf. Until he earns their respect, Gaara can never get people to trust him…especially people who once tried to exterminate him. Still are trying to."

"Poor thing." Tsuki squirmed, hair whipping in the wind as the group picked up their speed.

"Don't feel too bad for him. Gaara is incredibly strong. He'll be okay." Shikamaru assured.

Tsuki nodded, but continued the journey in silence.

Without a word, she focused her chakra on the bottom of her feet and bounced next to Naruto. Throwing an arm around his neck, she kissed his bruised cheek and pulled him in for a half-hug. Naruto's eyes widened in shock and his speed wavered. Nonetheless, he caught back on but said nothing.

After a while however, he finally broke the silence. "What was that about?"

"Just to let you know I love you." Tsuki smiled cheekily, eyes softening with warmth. She was just glad that her best friend did not have to endure the hatred his red-headed companion had to. Naruto had friends, and now, the respect of the villagers. Gaara, however, remained alone…and that was a thought she could not shake: He's all alone.

* * *

"Let's camp here tonight." Shikamaru ordered as everyone jumped to a halt at a small clearing near a waterfall.

"But Shikamaru, the night is young, we can still go on for a little longer!" Tsuki whined, stomping over to the group leader.

"No, if we stop now, we'll catch them mid-day tomorrow. We need to come up with a strategy and fuel up. Besides, we've been going full speed for 15 hours now, we're way ahead of schedule. It normally takes three days to get to Suna, and we're making the most of the distance in one and a half." Shikamaru reasoned, and everyone agreed in unison with his reasoning.

Tsuki fumed. Before she could open her mouth however-

"Hey! We're on a rescue mission, how can we sleep?" Naruto cried defiantly, just like he always does.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded. "We want to be useful to Gaara-san, and we can't be half awake tomorrow when we encounter the enemies. If we don't stop, we'll just get in the way!"

"But-"

"Shikamaru knows best, Naruto." Chouji cut in, reasoning with the blond.

"Ugh! Fine! But I still don't like it!" Naruto grumbled, sulking over to slide down on a tree. Within minutes, he was sound asleep.

In no time, everyone followed suit.

On the other hand, Tsuki dragged her sore feet to dip them in the waterfall. Sighing, she looked up to the moonlit sky, allowing its light to reflect in her similarly shaded golden eyes. "But he's all alone…"

* * *

Tsuki woke up to the morning birds and found a blanket of warmth encasing her. Fluttering her eyes open, she saw herself covered in an overly orange jacket and her ninja sandals by her feet. When she cleared her head enough to survey her surroundings, she finally discovered herself cooped up against Naruto. She must've drifted off by the waterfall and he brought her back, shoeless and wet. Tracing the male's face with incredible tenderness, she allowed herself to soak in a little more of Naruto. He'll never be alone again.

Speaking of loneliness…

"EVERYONE GET UP LET'S GO!" Tsuki shrieked as everyone jerked awake, alert and scowling. Putting on the sweetest smile, Tsuki skipped into the trees at a slow pace. Before long, she could hear footsteps behind her. What are friends for, right?

* * *

"Hey fuzzy brows, Tsuki, this way!" Naruto called, sweeping towards the direction of a sudden explosion that indicated battle. Just as the other two reacted to their teammate's direction, they saw sand shoot up towards the sky, building the highest sand column anyone had ever seen.

"Gee, I wonder if we'll be able to repay our dept!" Lee laughed sheepishly, dodging trees and branches towards Gaara and a big guy with a mace.

"Ch-yeah, tell me about it. He's totally winning!" Tsuki grinned. Then stopped, adding "providing that he's the red-head… if not, man! His ass is totally being kicked!"

Naruto turned back to give her a playful look before flying towards the battle full speed. With that, the three ninjas set their rescue mission in action as they bid their silent 'good luck' to their friends who had broken up into teams to back-up the Sand.

"Naruto, Lee, look!" Tsuki suddenly cried, ducking the green laser-like light that shot right above her head.

"What could that be?" Lee asked, promptly making a stopping to observe.

"Look, I don't know what that is, but it looks like we have to hurry!" Naruto yelled, gesturing the other two to follow him.

And then…a water dragon. It surrounded Gaara's pillar of sand with the speed of light and instantly turning the pillar as heavy as lead. The whole thing shook and trembled, and with Gaara quickly losing control of his weapon, the tower of sand crumbled under him, sending him to fall for what seemed like miles.

"Shit! He's in trouble!" Tsuki shouted worriedly as they hurried to the site. By the time they got there, they were just in time to see Gaara take a crackling hit to the ground, right on top of his broken gourd. Tsuki winced as she practically heard his bones snap like twigs. To make matters worse, the big guy with the mace was advancing on the immobilized redhead. He raised it and- "NO!"

"Great leaf whirlwind!" Lee's ironclad legs kicked away what must've been a 50 pound mace, and Tsuki immediately rushed to tend to the Sand shinobi.

"Gaara! We're here to save you!" Naruto cried out in reassurance before entering the heated battle.

"Uzumaki…Naruto!" Gaara whispered, eyes widening in surprise to see his allies…his friends.

"Gaara! Hey, look at me!" Tsuki ordered, kneeling by his side. Gaara was too surprised and focused to even acknowledge her presence.

"Naruto, his armor sucks chakra. Be careful." Naruto merely nodded at him before telling him to focus on himself.

"Dammit Gaara." Tsuki barked again, resting a hand over his chest as a light green aura encircled her hand. Gaara still hadn't moved an inch. Instead, he merely glanced over to the new girl, as if observing her intentions. Sensing his distrust, Tsuki rolled her golden eyes, but nevertheless placed an arm under his back to gently prop him forward. "Relax, I'll take care of you. I'm on your side, geez."

"Who are you?" Gaara finally asked when he felt his ribs move back to the right place. Tsuki was working magic…and fast.

"A medic-nin." The blonde smiled cheekily at him, as if she were tempting a dog with a toy behind her back. Give a little, hide a little. "Konoha's best in-training! Sakura's got nothing on me."

"Who are you?" Gaara asked again, trying to sit up. Wrong move. "Ah!" He winced quietly.

"What the hell, I told you to relax!" Tsuki cried out, eyes filled with unmasked concern. When Gaara closed his eyes quickly in pain, Tsuki softened. "Gaara…"

Her sudden change of tone was enough to make the redhead reveal his teal orbs to look at her curiously.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Tsuki offered in a whisper. To show him, she increased her concentration and focused on his ribs again, and Gaara could feel his wound closing already. "Look, I got my arm right behind you, and I'll let you sit up when you can, so just relax alright?"

It took a moment, but without a word, Gaara sighed and leaned back into her free arm, closing his eyes.

"Bad fall eh?" Tsuki chuckled at him, healing him and occasionally glancing back to make sure her teammates were alright. When she heard another rant about the power of youth and the fighting spirit, she smiled and turned back to Gaara.

Within minutes, Tsuki was able to heal most of Gaara's upper both, and as she promised, she gently propped him to sit up. Gaara looked at her face for a second, before looking away towards her hand. She was now healing his legs, but still kept an arm around him even when he was able to sit up just fine by himself. Still, Gaara did not comment on that.

Even so, he had to ask.

"Who are you?" Really, all he wanted was a name.

Tsuki smiled at him, and although she did not give him what he sought, little did she know, her next words would echo in his mind for a very long time.

"Your friend."

* * *

**Just a fun fact: In case you haven't picked it up, Tsuki literally means 'moon'. Since our red headed insomniac apparently spends time on the roof when everyone else is sleeping, he is really spending time with the moon every night. Who better than to keep him company, right? :)**


End file.
